Of Ancient Temples and Belated Birthdays
by I'mHalfSickOfShadows
Summary: Apollo shows up at camp and announces that he has a quest for Nico di Angelo: he wants the son of Hades to retrieve his poetry notebook. The only problem is that Nico hasn't been seen in three years, so the Sun God gives Percy the task to find the elusive Ghost King and carry out the quest with him. One-Shot. Percico


**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.**

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><p>It was a normal, ordinary day. The Hephaestus Cabin had blown something up, the Hermes Cabin had pranked a few people and the Aphrodite Cabin had a fight over some nail polish. Nothing new. But then, in the middle of lunch he though the sun was getting brighter. He was just about to go to an Apollo camper to get something for hallucinations when it became obvious that the reason the sun seemed brighter was because it was getting closer.<p>

Sure enough, a bright red Maserati parked in the middle of the dining pavilion, and a smiling Sun god hopped out.

"Demigods!" he greeted, waving to his children and winking at the Aphrodite girls.

"Lord Apollo" Chiron greeted, bowing his head in respect "to what do we owe the honor of your visit?"

"I have a quest!" he announced.

That got the attention of all the campers.

"Here's the deal" he continued, and paused for effect "I misplaced my poetry notebook."

Several of the elder campers rolled their eyes. The gods could be so lazy sometimes.

"And who do you wish to delegate this task to?" the centaur asked, his tone still respectful. After three millennia of dealing with gods you get used to their idiosyncrasies.

"Why, I'm glad you asked. It seems like some nymph thought it would be funny to hide my notebook, and she hid it _underground_" he said the last word like it was filthy "I'm the Sun god, I do not dwell in dark places." he shuddered "So I want the spawn of Hades to do it. It's his home court, after all."

"Regrettably, sir, Nico di Angelo isn't here. No one has seen him since the ending of the war. We know he is alive, but he does not pay regular visits to camp." Chiron informed him.

"Oh, I already knew that. I am the god of prophecies too! That's why I'm here. Jackson! You will find Nico di Angelo and carry out my quest with him. Understood?"

"And how on Earth am I supposed to find him? He's been gone for three years!" the son of Poseidon protested.

"I hear you have a nicely trained hellhound. Her nose is much sharper than yours. I'm sure your task will be very much simple. As for my notebook, it is inside an ancient temple for Aletheia in the north of Greece. Now off you go!" the blonde got in his car and drove west, as always.

Percy sighed heavily and resigned himself to try and find the son of Hades. He'd tried before, all of them had. Jason had told them Nico was already planning to leave forever before the war was even over. The son of Poseidon did feel stupid for never thinking of using Mrs. O'Leary. Apollo was right, he should be able to find the other demigod in a matter of minutes.

He trudged to his cabin and took a shower (you never knew how long until the next usable bathroom when in a quest) and then picked up his permanently packed quest backpack. He stepped into the arena and gave a single loud whistle. A large shape came running from the woods, picking up speed until a nasty collision seemed inevitable.

"Mrs. O'Leary, SIT!" he said with all the authority he could muster.

Apparently it was enough, because she stopped just short of making him into a demigod pancake.

"Good girl" he praised and scratched behind her ears "Now can you help me find Nico?" she perked up at the mention of the child of the underworld, so he took that as a yes. He climbed onto her and patted her head.

"Let's go!"

She ran into the closest shadow and disappeared.

* * *

><p>Nico was getting ready for movie night. He never thought he'd ever engage in such activities, but he was truly glad that he did. He was very thankful for the stubbornness of his lovely sister and his idiot best friend.<p>

_It had been three months since his voluntary exile. He was living in a tiny abandoned cabin high in some mountain he didn't care to find out where it was. He could be in the north of India. Or South America. Really, who cared? His current residence had been abandoned not too long ago, so most things still worked. He would shadow travel into grocery stores at night to get supplies, always leaving some money in the cash register. Judging by the language on his cereal box, he really was somewhere in Latin America. Not that it mattered, anyway._

_So there he was, sipping on some instantaneous soup, when somebody knocked on the door. Now, he was living at the top of a very high, very hostile mountain. He didn't exactly have visitors. Not even Jehovah's Witnesses are that persistent. So he took the logical course of action and opened the door ready to slash through whatever monster had made its way to his doorstep. Except monsters don't knock._

_He was tackled to the ground by a very small but very strong person, all he could see were cinnamon curls. Her hug was almost snapping a few of his ribs when he was finally released. They got up, and she promptly slapped him, sending him tumbling down onto the carpet again._

_"Ow. What was that for?" he protested weakly. He knew –suspected – what it was for. Before she could answer, Jason stepped forward and punched him, a clean shot to his jaw._

_Nico got up, rubbing his sure to bruise skin tenderly, and glared at him._

_"Was that really necessary?" he inquired._

_"Yes. Yes it was." Then the son of Jupiter gathered him in a bone crushing hug, and between his ribs and his face Nico wondered if he would make it out of there without needing medical attention._

_"Ok, ok! You've hugged me, you've hit me. What else, are you going to steal my dinner too?"_

_Hazel looked at the half finished can of soup and crinkled her nose in distaste. Jason voiced her displeasure:_

_"Your dinner isn't even worth stealing. You are not eating well, are you? It's no wonder, you are hiding out in a freaking mountain!"_

_"Hey, don't hate on the soup! It's tasty. And I don't get that hungry anyway. I'm doing ok."_

_"Ok?" Hazel repeated in disbelief "Nico, this is a dump. There is no nicer way to describe it. Please, go live somewhere decent! Somewhere we can visit you" she pleaded._

_"I'm content here. How did you find me anyway?" _

_"After you were missing for a whole month I made Jason tell me about your stupid promise to leave forever. How could you even think that wouldn't affect anybody? That it wouldn't affect me?" her golden eyes were filling up with tears, and Nico suddenly felt very guilty. He enveloped her in a hug, and she buried her face in his jacket. Jason took over the narrative._

_"Hazel said she could sense you. Something about your vital energy or something like that. So we traveled together, and here we are. We had to stop a while back to get winter clothes. Why did you pick a place so cold?"_

_"I didn't pick anything. I simply jumped from place to place until I found an empty house." He shrugged._

_"Then you are going to jump to someplace better. You don't want to go back to either camp, that's fine. We'll help you set up a house, with a guest room, anywhere you choose. And we get to visit. Often." Hazel was staring at him with a gaze that left no room for complaints. He sighed and said:_

_"Fine. But you can't tell anyone where I am. That is my condition." His own stare was unwavering, and the Romans nodded in agreement. _

_Hazel smiled widely and said:_

_"Great! Now let's help you pack and get out of this dump."_

And that is the story of how he wound up living in a nice house (financed by his father) in a small city in Italy. He couldn't bear to go back to his birthplace, the few things he remembered would haunt him. It took them a while to get established, and a while longer to work out weekly visits and time zones. The Romans still lived in Camp Jupiter, with their respective lovers, so they rode Arion to get there. It was a long trip, but more than worth it.

As time went by, Nico softened. He allowed them to tell Reyna where he was, since they'd really bonded over the whole bringing-a-giant-statue-halfway-around-the-world thing. The daughter of Bellona could not visit as often as the other two, being the Praetor. But she still dropped by every now and then.

More time went by, and he got the nerve to tell his sister about his orientation. She's smiled at him and, once more, hugged him until his ribs complained. He'd been much happier since then.

He smiled at the memories as he gathered blankets and put them near the couch. The doorbell rang and he went to answer the door eagerly: his family was here.

* * *

><p>He could tell immediately that they were near the sea. The other side of the Atlantic, in fact. He would be able to get the exact coordinates if he dipped his toes in the water, but it wasn't important. It was night time, and the closest source of light was a house maybe ten feet from where they'd landed. If Mrs.O'Leary's nose was correct, Nico would be in there.<p>

"Rest for now, girl. You did well." he told the snoring hellhound.

He walked over to the nearest window, and noticed it looked into a living room. The TV was on, playing something he couldn't see as it was facing away from him. On the couch there were three people, bundled up with blankets and eating popcorn out of a bowl: Jason, Hazel and Nico. Percy was immediately and severely pissed off. So those two had kept in contact with the pale boy, and said nothing to the others.

He walked up to the front door and knocked. After a few seconds Jason opened it with his _gladius_ in hand, Hazel and Nico similarly armed behind him.

"Percy?" was the bewildered greeting he got.

"Yes. Sorry to crash your private party, but I have been sent here by Apollo himself to collect Nico, for lack of a better word." his tone was ice cold and spelled out just how angry he was at the whole arrangement.

"We're sorry, Percy!" Hazel began "Nico didn't want to keep in contact with anyone else, it was hard enough to get him to allow us to see him..."

"Yeah, because checking in with everyone at camp every couple of months would have killed him." he scoffed.

"You don't understand, he..." Jason started only to get cut off.

"First of all, quit talking about me like I'm not standing right here." Nico's tone matched Percy's "Second of all, Jackson, you don't need to be all offended because I left. Big deal. It's not like you cared when I stuck around."

"Of course I did! And I went on so many missions trying to find you! How can you say I don't care?" he said angrily.

"Because you don't. That is just your loyal nature making you do this. You don't have to. Now leave." was the inflexible answer.

"Gee, I'd love to, but I can't. I didn't make the 'Apollo sending me over' thing up. We have a quest, handed to us specially." he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Nico raised an eyebrow and asked "What is the quest about? Does it have a prophecy?"

"No, it doesn't have one and it won't. It is pretty straightforward, if not a little stupid." thunder rumbled but he paid it no mind "We have to find Apollo's poetry notebook, it should be in an underground temple for Aletheia in the North of Greece. And no, I am not kidding. He showed up at camp asking for you specifically, and gave me the task to find you and complete the quest with you."

Nico sighed and said "Well, if I must. I'll go pack a bag and we can go then." he went back inside, leaving the other three half-bloods alone.

Percy glared at the son of Jupiter.

"What?" the blonde protested "He gave us conditions, and not telling anybody was one of them. We didn't want to lose him, Percy."

"Would it have killed you to IM me telling me that you found him, and that he is alive and healthy? You didn't have to tell me where he was. I worried about him, you know. He's a son of the Big Three, you know how many monsters we attract."

"We're sorry, but Nico told us not to. We respected his wishes." Hazel intervened "And cut the crap: had we told you anything you would have pestered us to tell you where he was. Don't lie."

Percy smiled, and just like that the tension between them was gone. He embraced them, one at a time, since it had been a while since he'd last seen the Romans. Then Nico came back out, shouldering a black (surprise!) backpack.

"I found this on my bed" the pale demigod said, holding a scroll that had definitely seen better days.

"What is it?" the green eyed boy asked.

"For once it is something useful and not cryptic at all: it's a map to the temple. I was wondering how we'd find an underground temple in 'the North of Greece'. Not very specific. This will save us a lot of time, we may be done with it in a couple of days. Hazel, burn something for Lord Apollo on our behalf, please. Make yourselves at home, you know where everything is, including the spare key. Stay for as long as you want, just lock up before you leave, ok?"

They nodded and Percy asked:

"Do you know where you're going? I mean, you'll shadow travel us there, right?"

"Sure. We are not that far from it, actually." He hugged Hazel and Jason good bye "Grab on and we are free to go."

Percy grabbed Nico's aviator jacket clad arm and they disappeared into the night.

They reappeared in front of a hotel. The son of Poseidon was glad he was in a place where he could actually read the signs. Before he could ask anything, the other demigod said:

"We are right where we should be. The temple is half an hour's walk from here, but there is no way I am going into a dungeon at night when everything is dark" when Percy raised an eyebrow at that, he added "Not for my sake, idiot. I can feel well enough where I'm going, but you can't. And if we bring a flashlight we will be inviting any monsters nearby to come and have a snack. No, we are doing this in the morning."

The older half-blood could hardly argue with that logic, even if it did hurt his pride a little bit. He shrugged and began to walk towards the entrance of the hotel, Nico following.

When they were hallway through the lobby, though, it occurred to him that they had no money. He was about to point that out to his smaller companion but by then they'd reached the front desk already.

"Hello!" the lady greeted with a thick accent.

"Good evening" Nico answered politely, while looking at the signs behind the front desk "We'd like a room, the Atlanta suite, one night only."

The woman nodded, and typed a few things into the computer.

"What are the names I should put on the room?" she inquired.

Nico gave her their names and Percy was surprised the younger boy even knew his middle name.

"Very well. Method of payment?"

"Credit card." The pale demigod answered, handing her a black piece of plastic.

She typed some more into her computer, swiped the card then handed it back with a smile.

"One more question: will you need one or two beds?"

Nico's face was suddenly very red, so much Percy had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

"Two, please" he managed to say while the green-eyed boy behind him still tried to control himself.

"Oh, dear, I can see I've embarrassed you. My apologies. Two beds it is! She typed the information on the computer one last time and handed them two key cards.

"Thank you for choosing us for your travelling needs. Enjoy your stay, and if you need anything don't hesitate to ask!"

They took the elevator to their room on the fifth floor. The son of Hades was still rather pink, but Percy wisely did not comment on it. Instead he said:

"Since when do you have a credit card? I mean, your birth date is kind of suspicious for you to even have a bank account…"

"My father gave it to me. I don't know how it works, but it does have a limit. I would've gotten two rooms, but I don't think the transaction would have gone through."

"No problem, man. I definitely slept in worse places than this nice hotel. Hey, is this a statue of my father?"

They elevator door had opened, and through the window they could see the hotel's pool. And sure enough, a statue of Poseidon guarded the entrance, looking fearsome and proud.

"You tell me. Although it shouldn't surprise you. A lot of businesses here use Ancient Greek references to attract tourists. Of course, I don't expect to see many depictions of my father" he smiled crookedly.

They walked over to the room, and it was quite spacious. There were two queen beds, with white sheets and blue comforters. The cream colored carpet seemed very soft, and Percy felt tempted to kick off his shoes to test that. There was a small table with a couple of armchairs on the far end of the room, and along with the window that had a nice view of the city.

The son of Poseidon went to check out the bathroom, and it too was beautifully made. And they had a tub! An actual, full sized tub!

"Do they usually have tubs this big on regular rooms?" he asked surprised.

For some reason, Nico blushed before answering "No, they don't. I asked for it in particular, because there is no other water sources you can actually go to and use your powers without attracting attention. We shouldn't trust the Mist here."

"So you got me a private pool for me to splash in?" he teased, and chuckled when Nico blushed harder "Thanks, I really appreciate it." He smiled "You should shower first, because if I am using this tub it'll be a while until I'm done. I wonder if there is a salt water tap…."

The son of Hades nodded, dug out some things from his bag and went into the bathroom.

He came out a few minutes later, wearing black and grey plaid pants and a light blue shirt. Percy smiled and said:

"Hey! I think that is the first bright colored shirt I've seen you wear!"

Nico looked down, as if just now realizing what he was wearing, blushed and answered:

"It was a gift from Hazel. She said she was sick of seeing me in black when she came over, so she gave me this. She picked blue because…" he blushed harder, then went on "because it would match Jason's eyes. Yes, it's weird, but she didn't exactly take me shopping with her to give my opinion. Better than a Superman shirt, though."

The son of Poseidon laughed, but the last part sounded a lot like a lie. But it really didn't matter. It was a godsdamned shirt. Who cared why it was blue? He got his clothes and went into the bathroom.

When he got out, Nico was sitting on the bed, back against the wall, speaking with his sister and the son of Jupiter through an Iris Message.

"You finished without me? Not fair! I actually wanted to watch that movie." he was complaining. Jason and Hazel laughed.

"Well, hurry back! Then we can watch it again and we can threaten you with" she paused for effect "spoilers!" she giggled evilly.

"Don't you dare!"

"Well, stop being such a lazy bum and finish the quest! We'll be here for a couple more days, eating all your food." Jason said.

"Please eat the leftover pasta. If you don't, it will be able to walk out of the fridge by itself soon. But don't touch my good gelato, Grace, I'll hurt you!" the son of Hades threatened.

The blonde smiled and said "We'll see. Good luck, Ghost King."

"Yeah, yeah. Take care Grace. See you soon, Hazel."

"We love you!" she said.

"Love you too. Good night."

He swiped his hand through the mist and sighed.

"You really changed, you know" Percy said, making Nico jump.

"How long have you been there, you creep?"

"Long enough to know not to eat your good gelato." He grinned.

The son of Hades blushed and mumbled:

"It is really good gelato. Not to be eaten in such ordinary circumstances."

"When is it supposed to be eaten, then?" Nico's expression dropped, so Percy decided not to insist on the topic.

"In any case, it's good to see that you've opened up since the last time I saw you. Even though it hurts a little you deliberately left me out of your life, but it is important to have friends."

"What would you know about hurt?" Nico said quietly, so quietly that Percy had to make sure:

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Let's sleep, tomorrow we'll get the notebook and go home."

"Yeah, sure. Good night."

"Good night."

The son of Poseidon wrapped himself in his covers and watched as Nico made his bed. The pale boy peeled back the covers and crawled to the far side of the queen bed, rearranging the pillows to make a nest. He settled on top of it, hugging one pillow and throwing his leg over the other, then pulled the blankets over himself, making sure to tuck in the corners under his feet. Finally, he closed his eyes.

He smiled. It was like watching a cat, and oddly endearing. He snuggled deeper into the covers and let sleep take him.

* * *

><p>Percy woke up with the sun shining right in his eyes. Of course, of all the places it could shine, it had to be right into his eyeball. Thanks, Apollo. He turned to the other side and tried to sleep again, but no such luck. He was up. He checked the clock by his bed and saw that it was just past 9 am. He might as well shower and get ready.<p>

When he got out of the bathroom, Nico was still asleep and the sun was a bit higher up. They'd better get going, he did not want to go for a hike underneath the midday sun. He sat on the edge of the bed, in front of the pile of pillows and blankets that presumably hid the son of Hades, and nudged his shoulder.

"Nico? Wake up. We should get going, we might make it back in time for dinner!"

The younger demigod groaned and buried himself deeper in his nest, trying to get away from the offensive light and noise. Percy smiled. It was like waking a grumpy kitten. He decided to take a more aggressive stance on the matter, so following his mother's example he began to pull on the covers.

"Jason!" Nico complained "You know where the food is. I am not waking up just to cook for you. Get lost"

"Hm, Nico? It's me, Percy. Don't you remember? We are on a quest…?"

The son of Hades sat up abruptly and said:

"Right. Quest. Sorry, I'll go get ready."

Percy chuckled and answered:

"That's fine. I take it Jason wakes you up like that a lot?"

"Yeah… he says I'm a 'persistent sleeper'. It's the only way to get me out of bed… I'm surprised you figured that out so fast."

"I'm just like you. When I want to sleep, it takes a lot to wake me up. That's how my mother used to do to get me up for school in time. If that hadn't worked I'd dump some water on you. She never tried that on me, though, because it wouldn't really work." He grinned.

"Wake me up by throwing water on me and you'll wake up six feet under. Literally."

"My, my, aren't we in a bad mood? Go shower, then we can go get some breakfast."

Nico nodded and went into the bathroom.

"Percy!" he scolded "You have power over water, why is it everywhere?"

"Hm, it's more fun that way?" he tried.

"No. I could slip and hurt myself! I refuse to die such a pathetic death. C'mon, dry this off, it'll take you thirty seconds."

"Fine! Spoilsport." He mumbled, shuffling into the bathroom.

"Slob"

"Stick in the mud."

"Lazy bum"

"Killjoy"

"Pig"

"No! Not pig! I got turned into a Guinea pig once, and I don't like to be reminded of it."

Nico smiled, biting his lip lightly to keep from laughing, and said:

"Ok, how about we stop with the insults? Is my bathroom dry?"

Percy came out, took a deep bow and mocked:

"Yes, Your Highness. Should I scrub you back to or can you do it yourself?"

The son of Hades' cheeks flared up and he shook his head. Weird. The pale demigod went into the bathroom and closed the door. Percy sighed. What had he done this time? He decided he wasn't going to figure it out anyway, so he might as well pack.

* * *

><p>They checked out of the hotel and started walking towards the temple. It was on a relatively secluded area, so they actually walked on a dirt path for a while. Then, Nico led them off the trail and into a forest, checking the map ever so often to make sure they hadn't gotten lost.<p>

Soon enough they stopped at a clearing.

"Uhhh…. Where is it?" Percy asked.

Nico rolled his eyes "Didn't your hear Apollo? The nymph hid the notebook _underground_. The temple is still whole, but since it was abandoned it got buried through the ages."

"Cool. How do we get in?"

"If you'll be quiet for a second, I can make a tunnel."

He closed his eyes and spread his senses, focusing on the ground below. He could feel its large rooms and once majestic halls, the lavish statues that still adorned the temple. It was as if time had stood still inside the marble. It was both a marvelous and daunting prospect. He followed his senses to where the main entrance should be.

"Stand back." He warned, and called on the Earth to open. The ground split at his command, and sure enough there was a doorway at the bottom of the hole he'd created. He made a ramp to the level they were.

"Wow, you're pretty good at this." He commented.

"Nah, Hazel would have done a lot better. She would probably have molded it into an actual staircase, with handrails and everything. Maybe some jewels for a touch of class." He smiled fondly at the thought of her.

"Don't sell yourself short. You're very powerful." He insisted.

"Whatever you say. We need to keep this open, so it will air out. If I close it we could die from lack of oxygen down there. But it is dangerous to leave it unguarded…"

"I could go and you stay here." Percy offered.

"No. What part of 'doing this together' don't you understand? You can't see in the dark, Percy. Sure, we have flashlights, but that's not the only problem. We don't know what is hiding inside. None of us should go alone."

"Then what are we supposed to do? Ask the policeman in the city to watch over us?"

Nico turned to stare at him with annoyance etched in his features, and raised his arms in front of him. The ground rumbled, and Percy wondered for a moment if his companion had gotten truly angry at him and wanted to fight. He almost reached for Riptide when he noticed skeletons clawing their way out of the dirt.

"Oh, right. Son of Hades."

Nico rolled his eyes and addressed his soldiers.

"Keep watch. Don't let anyone, monster or mortal get through. If you are attacked, regardless of whether or not you think you can handle it, one of you must go and find me. Understood?"

The dozen of skeletons gave a sharp salute and went to secure the perimeter.

"Ok. We can go now" the pale boy said in a much milder tone.

They stepped down the ramp and went into the temple.

One thing that must be mentioned for posterity: If you lock up a place for a little over two millennia, it will smell awful. They got used to it, but it was still pretty bad.

He had no idea where they were going so he had to ask:

"Nico? Do you know where you are going?"

"Don't need to. I'm just following the footprints. I don't know how the nymph got in, but she went this way. No matter how light you are on your feet, if you step somewhere that hasn't seen a broom in centuries you are bound to leave a mark."

Percy trained his flashlight in the ground, and sure enough there were faint footprints among the dust.

"I don't know what I would do without you. But they are kind of weak. And you are not pointing your flashlight at the floor. How are you seeing them?"

"I'm not. A lot of this dust is dirt. I simply sense the place that has less of it. They have vaguely the shape of feet, and are in a really obvious pattern. Easy to follow." He shrugged.

"Dang. And I thought I'd only feel stupid near Annabeth."

Nico laughed, and it echoed down the halls in a very interesting sound. Percy tried to recall the last time he'd heard the boy laugh. Nothing came to mind. But he decided that to bring that up would sour the mood, so he remained quiet for once.

They navigated the temple with ease, and it seemed that whatever had once roamed the marble building had long since died of starvation, because they didn't run into anything. Not one monster thirsty for their yummy super quenching blood.

That only made them more nervous, though. It meant something worse could be at work, something they couldn't possibly fight: Magic. None of them said a word about it, afraid they might jinx it.

They rounded a corner and Nico said:

"It should be just ahead. I can't sense any footprints further from that room. Well, the ones that go forward. There is a trail leading back to where we came from, but I am pretty sure that is just her making her way back. She must be one of the Oreiades."

"What are those?"

"Nymphs that inhabit mountains and such. She must have come in the same way we did, by splitting the ground open."

"Oh. That makes sense."

As they approached a large chamber ahead, they became quiet. There was some light in the room, natural light it would seem.

"Her footprints stop here. And I think I see a notebook there" Nico said quietly, squinting to get a better look. It seemed there was a leather bound book in there, propped up against a rock "If it is, is too easy. I'll be home in time for dinner." He sounded happy and suspicious at the same time.

"This was a stupid quest from the start. Let's go in there. Get the book and get the heck out of here." Percy whispered.

They nodded and walked into the room. It was a grand chamber, but it seemed wilder than the rest of the temple they'd seen. But not in a way that suggested that the room had been corrupted by nature: it looked as if both the smooth marble on the floors and the rugged stone of the walls worked together to balance it out. Embedded in the dark stone were crystals that glowed a pure white. Up in the high ceiling there were fissures that let in fresh air and the faintest amount of sunlight. As soon as they were both inside, the doors slammed closed, locking them within.

They had the normal reaction, turning back and banging their fists on the door; trying to pry it open with swords; attempting to climb up to the few cracks on the ceiling that allowed sunlight in. When Nico tried to shadow travel them away and was unable to, he sighed and gave up.

"We're trapped here for a reason, there must be magic involved. There is absolutely no logical reason for me not to be able to teleport out of here, so it's reasonable to assume someone is tampering with us."

Just as he said that, words etched themselves on the door, glowing faintly.

"Many locks seal these doors,

As many as the lies you've told before.

You will be allowed to walk through,

Once you've embraced the truth." Nico read, a frown forming on his face "Wow, that's a crappy poem." He mumbled.

"Yeah, I bet Lord Apollo himself helped compose it" Percy snickered "But what does it mean?"

"Hang on, I got distracted by the nursery rhyme. Let's read it again." The son of Hades ran his eyes down the door again, and when he was done he had no mirth in his expression "Shit. I knew I shouldn't have taken this quest, everything was too easy."

"What are you talking about, Nico?" he asked, concerned.

"This is the temple of Aletheia, Goddess of Truth. She won't stand for any kind of deceit. We came here on a quest for Lord Apollo, who is also the God of Truth. She expects payment, they want… fuck. I'm not doing this."

Nico was clearly distraught, running his hands through his hair and shaking his head, mumbling nonsense Percy couldn't quite make out. Often the ramblings slipped into Italian and then they made even less sense.

He lay a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down, but the boy jumped away from him like he'd been stung.

"What's the big deal? Why are you reacting like _that_ over a _poem_ on the doors?"

"No reason. I'm fine." As soon as those words left his mouth, the crystals on the walls glowed an angry red. He ignored it and took a few deep breaths, then continued "You are not stupid, Percy. Read it, and you'll know."

The son of Poseidon pouted. He hated reading, it made his head hurt. He went over the lines again, then said:

"We have to straighten out every lie we've ever told? Ok, I'll start. When I was eleven I lied about being sick so I could stay home and watch _Finding Nemo._" He took a breath, as if he was going to continue, but Nico stopped him.

"I don't think those are the lies she meant." He said tensely.

"Then what?" Percy asked in a bewildered tone "I never told any _big_ lies. I mean, I lied to Annabeth when I told her I had something planned for our anniversary, but that's it." He looked at the door hopefully, like he'd expected it to open upon his dark confession.

When it remained closed, he slowly turned to look at Nico.

"Ok, if I don't have anything to tell, the doors must be waiting on you. I don't want to sound accusing, but we are the only ones in the room. I don't think the dust ever lied to anyone."

The son of Hades was shaking slightly, looking so wrecked Percy was sure that if they were somewhere that had grass, it'd be dead.

"Calm down. We don't have to do this right now, I can wait until you're ready." The green-eyed boy said, keeping his distance as it seemed Nico did not want any sort of contact at the moment. The pale demigod nodded, slowly, and said:

"Ok. Thanks. If we are going to be here for a while, I might as well do this."

He made a large sweeping motion with his hands, and gathered the dust in one corner, making the room effectively clean.

"Now we can sit down." He said simply, and went to the furthest corner, dropping his backpack and using it as a pillow. The younger half-blood curled on himself, so that the only part that could be seen by Percy was the curve of his jacket clad back.

The son of Poseidon didn't know what to do, so he simply copied Nico and went to a corner to lie down. Maybe he could take a nap while the other boy sorted his thoughts.

* * *

><p>When Percy woke up Nico was already awake. He hadn't moved from his corner, but he was sitting up. The son of Poseidon yawned and stretched his arms above his head, sighing contently when his bones snapped.<p>

"Morning" he said "or afternoon. I have no idea what time it is."

The son of Hades merely nodded in response.

"Ok, so are we going to give a shot on the getting the heck out of here?" Percy got to his feet and walked over to the abandoned poetry notebook. After getting trapped it lost some of its importance. Shrugging, he picked it up and stuffed it in his bag.

Nico hadn't answered him. He walked over to the other boy, who tensed more every step Percy took, until the pale demigod was hugging his knees to his chest as if trying to make himself as small as possible.

The son of Poseidon frowned. What was that all about?

"Do you really hate me that much?" he asked in a sad tone.

The son of Hades didn't even look up as he said:

"I don't hate you."

"Really? 'Cause you sure as hell act like it."

He didn't get an answer to that. He studied the walls and the crystals, then asked:

"A while ago they went red. What does that mean?" he wasn't really expecting an answer, so he thought about it for a moment. He was in a temple of truth…

"Do they glow red when we lie?" he mused "Let's see. I am a 7 foot tall giant with black eyes and red skin." Immediately the crystals shone red, confirming his theory.

He grinned, then frowned. "They went red when you said you were fine" he said, turning to Nico, who was still avoiding his gaze. "Why aren't you fine?"

"Oh, gee, it might be the fact I'm stuck underground." The son of Hades spat, and the walls went red.

"Liar, liar pants on fire" Percy drawled "Let's try this again. Why are you upset?"

"I'm not" the stones turned crimson again. Percy raised an eyebrow and Nico sighed. "Fine. I'm upset because I am stuck here with you until I tell the truth." It wasn't a lie, and the walls confirmed it.

The son of Poseidon looked hurt. "Is it really that awful to be with me?"

"Yes. But not for the reasons you think." He answered quietly.

"Is it because of Bianca?" Percy asked, guilt burdening him.

"No." came the soft reply, and the green-eyes boy let out a relieved sigh.

"Then what is it?"

"I don't want to talk about it. We can stop the interrogation now." Nico was twisting his skull ring, a sign he was nervous.

"How about no? This is annoying the Hades out of me, and this room is very conveniently wired to detect bullshit. So if you are not going to confess, we are going to play Twenty Questions." Percy stalked to Nico's corner and sat down in front of him. The younger boy frowned, but the son of Poseidon didn't budge.

"Ok, let us begin!" Percy said with fake enthusiasm "What's your favorite color?"

Nico frowned again, like he was expecting a loaded question. Then he shrugged and answered:

"Green."

"Cool. Why can you speak fluent Italian?" he asked, remembering how the language just slipped out of Nico as he cursed earlier "I mean, I know you are originally from Italy, but shouldn't you be a little bit rusty?"

"No. I've been living in Italy for the last two and a half years, it was bound to happen" he answered with an _Are you stupid? _ expression.

"Hey man, it's not like _I_ knew how you were doing or anything. I must have missed the memo." He said icily, then returned to his eerily cheery self "What was your first pet?"

"A snow white rabbit with red eyes. We very originally called her Snow. I loved her but then she bit my finger when I was feeding her a carrot. Then I loved her less."

That got Percy laughing, imagining little Nico feeding a fluffy bunny and getting upset because it bit him. Even the pale boy cracked a smile.

"What's your favorite song?"

"_Fly Me To The Moon,_ by Frank Sinatra. I don't like modern music, it's weird and pornographic" he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Sometimes I forget you are ancient" Percy chuckled "I suppose you are right, a lot of modern music is kind of crappy… but not all. It's a bit like dumpster diving, you have to go through a lot of trash to find something worthwhile. I might show you a few songs someday. But I don't know that song… the name Sinatra isn't strange, but I never actually heard it. Could you sing me a couple of lines?" he pleaded.

"No! I can't sing!" he protested, and the walls called him out.

"See? Even the room thinks you are a good singer. Pleeeease?" he widened his eyes, imploring in a most adorable way, and Nico's resolve crumbled.

"Fine." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He couldn't really sing a love song looking at Percy without giving himself away. Although given his situation this was a moot point. "You'll regret it" he warned, then began "_Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars. Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars. In other words, hold my hand. In other words, baby kiss me."_

Nico had a lovely voice, and Percy thought detachedly that he should really join the campfire songs. It would really improve it.

"_Fill my heart with song and let me sing forevermore._" He began tapping his thighs in sync with the song_ "You are all I long for all I worship and all I adore. In other words, please be true. In other words, I love you_" he almost choked on the last line, but he kept a straight face. He opened his eyes and said:

"There." He could feel his face was rather warm, and hoped his blush wasn't too obvious.

"That was awesome!" Percy praised "You should sing more often. Your voice is great, and the song really is sweet." That caused the pale boy to redden further. The son of Poseidon chuckled "No need to be embarrassed, if I didn't sound like a dying seagull I'd sing for you too."

Nico remained in silence.

"Ok, back to the questions!" Percy said excitedly.

The son of Hades groaned in frustration, but made no complaints. Percy counted that as a win.

"So… who was your first girlfriend?" he asked, and immediately regretted it: Nico looked severely panicked for a couple of seconds, then his face morphed to a mask of indifference. What was that all about?

"I've never had a girlfriend." He said gravely, and it must be true as there was no reaction from the crystals.

"Why did you look so scared when I asked you the last question?" he ventured.

"I don't want to answer that. Next question" Percy hadn't expected to actually get an answer, so he went on.

"Hm…. What movie were you watching?" Nico visibly relaxed at the change of topic, and Percy got an idea.

"We were watching _The Prestige_. It's not a recent movie, but all the reviews said it had a great plot and a very interesting twist. I'm really looking forward to finishing it..."

"Oh, I've watched it. It's amazing. In fact I might just watch it with you to see your reaction." He grinned evilly "Next question. Favorite superhero?"

"Captain America. It was one of the few that were out when I was a kid. And Bianca and I used to read it, so I like the memory."

"Captain America is too much of a goody two-shoes." Percy grumbled.

"Says the goody two-shoes" Nico replies, amused.

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not! Plus, he's like a 90 year old virgin!"

"Nico narrowed his eyes at him and asked "What do you have against 90 year old virgins?"

"Oh. Nothing at all! I keep forgetting, sorry."

The son of Hades smiled minutely and shook his head in an _it's ok _sort of way.

"So… favorite food?"

"Gelato." Was the immediate response.

"I said food, not dessert." He rolled his eyes.

"Gelato is food, you simpleton! Fine, I like cake."

"You have a sweet tooth, don't you?" Percy mocked.

"What? Me? No!" Nico said in an overly disbelieving tone. They both chuckled and the son of Poseidon smiled to himself. His idea was working just fine.

"Favorite god other than your father?"

"Lady Hestia." He answered with a smile "she is incredibly nice and doesn't get all the recognition she deserves."

_Like you_ the son of Poseidon thought, but said nothing. Instead he quickly asked a question he hoped would shed some light into the situation.

"Who was your last crush" he asked offhandedly, like he had asked the last lighthearted questions. If his plan worked, Nico would be so relaxed from answering such trivial inquiries he would lower his guard. The son of Hades immediately answered with:

"You."

* * *

><p>He seemed to realize what he had said a few seconds after the word left his lips. He clamped his hand over his mouth, eyes widening in fear or surprise, Percy couldn't tell, he was too busy trying to process everything.<p>

Nico took his silence the worst way possible, so he quickly gathered his things and moved as far away as he could, which wasn't much. He curled in on himself, hiding his face on his knees, willing the ground to swallow him up. It didn't happen, of course. He made himself as small as possible, and swore he would not cry. Not here, not now.

On the other side of the room Percy was still struck dumb. He wanted to go after Nico, but he didn't. For one thing, the boy couldn't go anywhere, so the conversation could be continued at any time. Another point to be considered was that the both of them needed time to calm down. From the corner of his vision he could see the other demigod, and thought it best to confront him when he could make sense of his thoughts.

It took a good amount of time, but when Percy had more or less sorted it out, he walked over to the other half-blood.

"Nico?" he called gently.

"Yes?" came the muffled reply. The younger boy didn't even bother to lift his head from his knees.

"Please look at me"

"I'd rather not. I can hear your insults just fine from here." Was the still none too clear reply.

"I'm not going to insult you, I promise." He said "See? The walls didn't glow. I'm telling the truth."

Nico hesitantly lifted his head and fixed his uneasy gaze on the floor.

"Thank you. Now, I can't help but think that what you last said has to do with why we are locked up here in the first place. Do you agree?"

"Yes."

"So, answer me. You said I was you last crush. Are you… over me?" he kept his tone soft, not wanting the son of Hades to sense any hostility.

"Yes." Nico tried, but the crystals caught his lie. The Ghost King blushed almost as much as the walls, and once more buried his face in his knees.

"Oh, Nico." He sighed "I'm not angry or anything like that. It's ok." He tried to touch his shoulder in a comforting manner, but the boy flinched away from him.

"Don't touch me, please." His voice was once more muffed by his jeans.

"Then let's talk about it."

That made the son of Hades snap his head up, anger shining in his eyes.

"Talk about it? What is there to talk about? You want me to tell you that I've had this ridiculous crush on you for seven freaking years? That Hazel actually bought me a blue shirt because that's _your _favorite color she was teasing me? That my good gelato is for days that I get so fucking depressed that all I want to do is watch stupid corny romantic comedies and eat junk food, because I am so godsdamned pathetic?" his eyes were shining a little bit, and he no longer looked angry. Just sad beyond belief. He tucked his knees tighter against his chest and hid his face again.

The son of Poseidon was stunned by that, but he got no chance to reply as there was a loud click as the doors swung open. That got Nico's attention.

"Let's go." He said in an emotionless tone "We'll go back the way we came from, so I can seal the temple and dismiss the soldiers. I'll take us back to Italy and you can hitch a ride from Mrs. O'Leary back to camp."

"Nico…"

"No need to speak." He said in a tone that meant to be harsh, but came out as pleading. Percy obliged.

They walked silently through the halls, and soon enough they were out in the sunshine again. Judging from the sun they'd been there the whole day. Nico made an upwards motion with his hands and the earth snapped back to the way it was, as if nothing had even disturbed it. He thanked his soldiers and dismissed them. As soon as he finished a smiling Sun God materialized in front of them.

"I knew you could do it!" he extended his hand and Percy gave him the leather bound book.

"Thank you, demigods! As a reward, each of you get lie-detecting crystals!" he handed the boys a small piece of the glowing rock.

Nico was clearly struggling to not throw his away, in the end tucking it into his backpack. Apollo was easily offended, so he simply thanked the deity. Percy followed suit.

The god smiled one last time and flashed out of existence.

"Let's go. Hold on to anything and I'll get us where we started." Nico said flatly.

The son of Poseidon really didn't know what to say, so he simply held on to the other's arm like he had the day before. Nico used the shadows from the day's end to melt them into the darkness, and they were gone.

They landed behind the Ghost King's house. He immediately stepped away from Percy, and asked in a low voice:

"Do you need anything before you go?"

"Something to drink and a bathroom would be nice." Indeed, they'd been stuck in the temple for hours, he seriously needed a potty break. The son of Hades nodded, then turned to walk around to the front of the house. He unlocked the door and called:

"Jason, Hazel, I'm home."

The Romans were in the kitchen, and poked out their heads to see them.

"Nico!" Hazel pulled him into a hug "We're so glad you're back already! We're making pizza. I don't know enough Italian to order it, so we're making it from scratch!" now that she mentioned it he could see there was flour splattered across her outfit. If he were in a better mood he might've teased her for it. But as it was, all he could manage was a weak smile.

"It's good to be back. Grace, could you get Percy a soda or something? We were stuck in a dusty temple all day." Then he said over his shoulder "Bathroom is straight ahead, second door to the left."

The son of Poseidon nodded and went in direction of the restroom. As soon as they heard the door close, Hazel frowned and asked:

"What happened? You look miserable!"

"We went to temple of Aletheia. Goddess of truth. We weren't allowed to leave until we were completely honest." Her eyes widened.

"And…?" she prompted. Jason had emerged from the kitchen too, wanting to hear the rest of the story.

"I had to tell the truth." He shrugged, then pulled out the crystal from his backpack "the walls were full of these. They glow red when someone lies."

"Really?" Jason said "I didn't break one of your mugs this morning." The crystal turned crimson "Cool. Wait, does that mean…"

"Yes. He knows. All of it." Nico said miserably.

Then Percy came out of the bathroom, and their conversation quieted.

The son of Jupiter went into the kitchen and grabbed a can of soda, handing it to the other demigod.

"Thanks, man." Percy gulped the whole thing down in one go. "Ah, that hit the spot. Ok, I'm good to go. Why are you glaring at me, Grace?"

"I'm not glaring" Jason said, and the rock still on Nico's hand glowed red.

"Yeah, you are. Even Rocky there agrees with me." Then it dawned on him "You knew all along, didn't you? Never mind, it's written all over your face. If you are glaring at me because of what went down on the temple, don't. I didn't do anything to hurt him, I promise." Jason eyed the crystal suspiciously, but it remained white.

"Then why is he like this?"

"Beats me. I tried to talk it out, but he refused to." He said, looking pointedly at the pale boy who studiously avoided his gaze.

Hazel could see how disturbed her brother was with all of this, so she intervened:

"It doesn't matter. Some time apart will do you both some good. Percy, do you need anything else?"

Nico went to the couch and wrapped himself on the blankets that were still there. It was like he was trying to shield himself from the world, and Percy wished he could convince him that he didn't need to. But right now he couldn't, so he sighed and said:

"No, Hazel, I think I'm good. I'll just go outside and call Mrs. O'Leary, she should be rested by now." Then he turned to the son of Hades and added "Thank you". He got a single curt nod in response.

As Percy walked out of the house, just before the door slammed shut, he heard Nico's voice, sounding sad and vulnerable:

"Jason, could you get me some gelato?"

* * *

><p>Percy went straight to his cabin, after notifying Chiron of his safe return. He didn't feel hungry, even if it had been quite some time since his last meal. He showered, getting all the millennium old grime off his skin, then lay in bed, thinking and fidgeting with his crystal. The soft light in the complete darkness that was his room was comforting somehow.<p>

There was a knock on the door, and Annabeth came in.

"Hey there, Seaweed Brain, how was your quest?" she smiled.

"Awful." She came closer and sat on the edge of the bed.

"What is that?" she asked, pointing at the crystal.

"A lie-detecting thingy Lord Apollo gave us as a reward."

"Really? Let's test it. I am a daughter of Hypnos." It glowed red.

She smiled "That is so cool! I wonder how it operates, does it sense changes in heart rate? Breathing patterns? Or maybe an enchantment…"

"Annabeth, please." He cut her off "You are going to give me a headache."

"Oh, sorry. But in any case, it was a really short quest. Why was it awful? Are you hurt?"

"No, not physically anyway. It's just… Nico."

"Why, what happened? How is he, by the way, I haven't seen him in ages."

"He's doing better. It turns out Jason and Hazel have been in contact with this whole time. But there were a couple of new… developments that I'm finding hard to sort out"

"Talk to me. I'm your friend, aren't I?"

Friend. He and Annabeth had broken up a year or so ago. It was mutual, but it was hard. Terrible, really. She went to Camp Jupiter to get a break from it all, but Percy stayed. Grover brought him meals three times a day, and they went back untouched. The first two weeks it rained, and the lake waters were choppy. The weather only went back to normal when Clarisse yelled at him because the arena had become so muddy no one could train, and the campers were getting antsy. After all, if you stick a bunch of ADHD kids into their cabins with nothing to do, they will go insane. Well, the Hypnos cabin had loved the rain, it makes for soothing dreams. But the rest was pretty angry.

Eventually they healed, and started talking again. They were a great team, and not even a breakup could really tear them apart. So Percy sighed and said:

"Yeah, Annabeth, you are my friend. One of my best."

"Then talk to me. It's not like I can't keep a secret."

"Fine." He recounted the story of the quest, starting from the moment he left "Then he said that his last crush… was me. I talked to him after I got over the shock and it turns out he has been crushing on me for the last seven years. Seven years, Annabeth!" he kept the part about the shirt and the gelato to himself. It was too personal, she didn't need to know.

The daughter of Athena was a wonderful listener, and hadn't interrupted him once. When he fell silent, she spoke.

"Well, it does make sense. I mean, I thought it was me, but when you think about it is kind of obvious. I'm feeling stupid for not noticing. How do you feel about that?"

"I don't know. He looked so miserable, so ashamed. He actually thought I was going to insult him!"

"I take it you didn't. Because if you did, I will kick your ass all the way to Mississippi." She said in a stern tone.

"Of course I didn't. But he wouldn't talk about it. He was so sad… I wish I could do something for him."

"How do you feel about him, Percy? Do you think you might like him back?" she asked gently.

"I really don't know. I never really took interest in guys, but that was because I had a crush on you from the day you told me I drooled in my sleep. You tend to ignore other potential suitors when you are in love"

"Like you ignored Rachel" Annabeth pointed out, smiling.

"Hey, that was different!" he protested "For one thing, she came on to me. She demonstrated interest. I didn't even have to notice anything. Nico? He barely looked me in the eye and never stayed near me for long. I thought he hated my guts."

"Would you rather he'd been flirty and came on to you?" she laughed "Come on, Percy. Put yourself in his shoes. He was in love with an older guy, who had a girlfriend. We were happy. He didn't want to get in the way of that. If you think about it he was pretty selfless, I remember being so jealous of Rachel…" she mused, tapping her index finger on her chin "I was kind of mean to her until she became the _virgin _Oracle of Delphi. Nico was never mean to me. For gods' sake, we used to think he liked me instead of you."

Percy was gaping like a fish. He hadn't, in fact, considered any of those things.

Annabeth chuckled "No need to act so surprised, Seaweed Brain. You would've thought of all that eventually, I'm just helping you along. One more thing you should consider…" she stopped, like she was choosing her words.

"He's probably really hurt, you know. I have first-hand experience on how sucky it is to have the one you love being with someone else. When you got all buddy buddy with her, it felt like someone was driving my dagger through my heart. He had to put up with, well, _us_, since the beginning. It has to hurt. He will have found a coping mechanism for that, one you may not like. So be careful, and be patient. This was forced out of him, judging by his reaction he never wanted you to know. So get yourself sorted out and go talk to him. Whatever you choose, thread lightly." She finished.

"What do you mean, thread lightly?" he asked, confused.

"Either way, kelp-for-brains, you have to be careful. Even if you find you like him, you can't go grabbing him and declaring undying love. Have tact, or he might think you're mocking him."

"But I…" he began.

She interrupted the protest forming on his lips "Yes, I know you would never mock him. _I_ know. He doesn't. I get the feeling he's not completely comfortable with that part of himself, and we'll tell ourselves many things when we believe in something for too long. In his mind, you're straight. You might not be, and that's fine." She smiled as Percy blushed, and continued "But he doesn't see that. He doesn't want to see that because it hurts to hope. It's better to conform yourself to not having something, then to build up an expectation that you might have it some day and get your hopes crushed."

The son of Poseidon mulled over her words for a bit, then said:

"Since when are you such a Nico expert?"

She smiled "Child of Athena. Humans are not that different from buildings, once you have the blueprints you can understand it. Him liking you was the piece missing for me to be able to make sense of things. Also, I like to read a bit of Psychology on my down time"

"That" Percy said, stunned "is both amazing and scary."

Annabeth laughed "Calm down, I shall not use my powers for evil" she grinned "We like to think we are complex and difficult to understand, when really we all want the same things. Once you factor in a few particularities it becomes clear."

"Maybe you should be a therapist" he mused.

"Hell no. I'll be an architect, thank you very much. Buildings are a lot less stubborn than people."

"Can't argue with that."

* * *

><p>Nico was comfortably snuggled on the couch. He was tucked under Jason's arm, while Hazel hugged him around the waist. That, combined with the fleece blankets on top of them, made for a nice warm cocoon.<p>

After Percy left, Nico asked Jason for his gelato. The son of Jupiter didn't have to ask which, it was clear this was a case where good gelato was called for. Since it was better for it to thaw a little before attempting to eat it, he went to take a shower.

He stayed under the warm water until his fingers were wrinkly. He dried off and put on his pajamas, the same he'd worn at the hotel. No sense it dirtying more clothes than necessary.

When he walked back into the living room he saw that his sister and best friend had also changed into their sleepwear. _They probably used the guest bathroom_, he thought absent-mindedly. There was pizza on the coffee table, along with the gelato. There was also a corny romantic comedy ready to play. He smiled, they knew him well.

He sat down in the middle and Jason immediately sat on his right, while Hazel sat on his left, after turning off the lights. She threw the blankets on top of them, and began to play the movie.

"I got you some more gelato, if you want" was all the blonde said.

"I made the pizza with extra cheese" the daughter of Pluto added.

Gods, he love his family. His beautiful, understanding family. He gave them a small smile and a nod, and that was all they needed.

* * *

><p>The Quest had been two months ago. He slowly went back to normal, after a week of moping and eating junk food. The he told himself to stop being such a whiny little bitch and get on with his life. It worked.<p>

He was surprised when there was a knock on the door.

Nobody was supposed to show up at his house today. It was his birthday, but everybody was busy. They had made arrangements to celebrate it tomorrow. Maybe they were going to surprise him. But then again, they wouldn't knock if they wanted to be stealthy, they'd use their key. So he unsheathed his sword and opened the door, ready to strike.

Whatever optimism he had about it being someone to celebrate his birthday with was gone, because lo and behold, the one and only Percy Jackson was standing awkwardly on his doorstep. It took all his self-control to not slam the door in his face.

"Hey, there, Nico." He said.

"What do you want? Is there another quest?" he kept his voice neutral, or tried to.

"No, no. I was talking to Hazel, and she let it slip that today was your birthday. She also said that none of them could make it today, and that you were going to meet up tomorrow, but I still think you should have something on your birth_day_. So here" he held up a white box with a yellow ribbon, one that Nico had neglected to notice "Happy birthday." He smiled.

The son of Hades took the box with unsteady fingers, and opened it. Inside there was a birthday cake, covered in blue icing.

"My mom made it…" he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly "I helped with the icing, if you couldn't tell." Nico still wasn't answering, so he fidgeted in his spot "anyways, I'll get going" he made to leave, but the son of Hades grabbed his wrist, lightly.

"No, you can come in. Mrs. O'Leary is probably still snoring, it will take her a while to recover." He turned to go back inside, then called over his shoulder "Thank you" he said truthfully.

Percy grinned and followed him in, saying "It was nothing."

Nico went into the kitchen and got two plates and some cutlery. He set the cake down on the coffee table and served one thick slice for each.

"I was just watching _The Prestige_, but if you want to do something else…" he trailed off uncertainly.

"No, that movie is awesome! Did you actually finish it?" he asked.

Nico shifted uncomfortably before answering "No, I was feeling uh, indisposed." He blushed "I'm about halfway through now. Don't you dare spoil it!"

"We'll see." Percy said, settling in a corner of the very comfy couch with his plate of cake. He didn't miss how the son of Hades sat down as far as physically possible, covering himself with a blanket.

An hour or so later Nico was staring wide eyed at the TV.

"But…he… how?" he sputtered.

"I know, right?" the son of Poseidon laughed. Nothing better than re-watching a movie with a wicked plot-twist with someone who has never seen it. The sense of superiority is awesome. He barely watched the movie at all, rather watching Nico's reactions, how he furrowed his brow trying to figure it out and the utterly surprised expression he wore towards the ending.

"We have to watch it again." He stated, and grabbed the remote to do just that.

"No, let it sink in first. Watch it with someone else who hasn't seen it, it's great."

"Maybe I'll call Reyna… I'm pretty sure she hasn't seen it" He smiled evilly "So if we are not watching it again, what do you want to do?"

"Do you have any cartoons?"

* * *

><p>It was late in the evening and Percy was watching <em>Up!<em>. Nico had started watching with him (they both pretended they _didn't _cry on the beginning) but now he was asleep, curled on his corner of the sofa. He was chattering his teeth because of the cold, so he grabbed a couple more blankets and tucked him in, making him lie down so that his head wound up propped up on Percy's lap. The son of Hades was obviously more comfortable like this, since he sighed deeply with a small smile on his face.

He looked very peaceful, and before he knew it Percy had been staring at him for more time than it would be considered normal. Over the last months he had seriously considered everything that went down in the temple, and he had come to the conclusion that he wasn't entirely straight. However, that didn't mean that he was suddenly in love with Nico, just because the other boy had been in love with him for so long. They needed to spend quality time (read: not locked up in a dusty temple having your secrets forced out of you) together so that the son of Poseidon could actually make a decision. Quality time like today.

He'll confess that he'd been scared to come here. He'd been afraid the son of Hades would turn him away with a few zombies on his tail. Instead he'd been very nice. He'd truly enjoyed spending time with the pale demigod. And to have him so close to him, like now, didn't feel too bad either.

The movie was drawing to a close, and Percy was very sleepy. It wouldn't do anyone any harm if he took a little nap before taking Nico to his bed. He yawned and closed his eyes, telling himself it would be only five minutes of rest…

* * *

><p>Nico woke up feeling incredibly warm and comfortable. He snuggled closer to the source of it, sighing contently. He was really glad everyone was scheduled to arrive at night, because he didn't want to wake up anytime soon. That is, until he noticed that his pillow seemed to be… breathing?<p>

He opened his eyes blearily and verified that yes, his pillow not only breathed, it had a heartbeat too. He tried to get away in a panicked haste, only to fall off the couch bringing everything down with him.

"Ow…" Percy complained "Morning, Nico"

"Morning. Would you mind…?" he asked in a tense voice, blushing furiously.

"Oh. Right." Percy disentangled himself from the blankets and got off Nico, who immediately got up and put some distance between them.

"Sorry I fell asleep, but I remember that I was on the opposite end of the couch." He said quietly.

"Yeah, you were, and you were very uncomfortable and shivering from the cold. I got you some extra blankets and made you lie down properly. Then I kind of fell asleep too. Ooops."

"You didn't have to… but thanks, I guess. I'm going to take a shower, you can eat whatever in the kitchen, or shower in the guest bathroom."

"Ok."

Nico shuffled to his room so he could bathe in his own private bathroom. He dumped his clothes on the hamper and stepped into the shower, sighing as the warm water hit him while thinking that Percy had been a lot warmer. He chastised himself for indulging in such thought and tried to think of something else.

He took longer in the shower than he usually did. He wanted to give Percy the chance to leave without having to deal with the awkwardness that was sure to come. He was hoping for maybe a nice goodbye note. He pulled on some clean clothes and went to the kitchen, only to find the son of Poseidon flipping blue pancakes.

He'd clearly showered, but was completely dry.

"I hope you like pancakes!" he said cheerily.

"I do, but where did you get the dye?" he asked, getting over his shock that Percy had chosen to stay.

"Oh, I still had it in my pocket from when I was making the icing for the cake." He shrugged. I figured, why not? Blue food is always better."

"Sure. I'll set the table" he went through his cabinets picking up plates and other things, rummaging through the fridge to pull out syrup, butter and other breakfast foodstuffs.

They ate in silence, but surprisingly it wasn't awkward. It was nice. Nico let himself dwell on a private fantasy of having breakfast like this on a regular basis. He should stomp this little dream before it got shattered by reality, but he couldn't deny himself. He took what he could get, even if it was mostly fake.

They did the dishes together and put away the food, without exchanging a single word.

"So…" Nico said, because somebody had to end this charade "I bet Mrs. O'Leary will be well rested by now." He said offhandedly.

"Yeah… but I don't really want to leave, not yet."

"Oh. Do you need anything else?"

"Yes. We have to talk Nico." He said seriously, and the son of Hades looked at him with terror in his eyes.

"Can't we pretend it never happened? I promise I won't bother you, ever. I rarely leave Italy, you won't see me at all." He said pleadingly.

"No, I can't just leave it be. I…thought about it, a lot. And I wasn't sure of it until this morning."

"What? I said I was sorry…" he was twisting his fingers anxiously, like a child waiting for their punishment.

"No. It was great waking up next to you. I felt warm and snuggly, and what's more I didn't have a single nightmare." He smiled.

Nico tried to control his traitorous heart as he pointed out "You didn't have any nightmare at the hotel, either. Or in the temple."

"At the temple it was a nap. No one dreams during a nap. And at the hotel I did have nightmares, but I learned how to not wake up screaming and trashing. I wake up terrified, in a cold sweat, but I don't make any noise. I got used to it, so much it became a habit, not even worth mentioning. I only noticed it today because this was the first full night of sleep I got in a long time."

"It could be a coincidence. My couch is really comfortable, maybe you need a better bed." He said tentatively.

"I don't think it was the couch, di Angelo." He said teasingly.

"I still say that it was, Jackson." Was the stubborn answer.

Percy moved closer to him, smiling wider when for every step he took forward Nico took one back, until he was cornered. The pale boy was blushing furiously, and then shadows came out and enveloped him.

The son of Poseidon almost screamed in frustration, until he heard a very loud _thump_ coming from another room. He followed his ear and went into Nico's bedroom, which was seemingly empty.

Feeling silly, he got on his hands and knees and checked under the bed. Sure enough, there was one trembling son of Hades there.

"Really, Nico? Hiding under your bed? What am I, the Boogie Man?"

"Shut up, my aim was off." The boy crawled out of his poor hiding spot, brushing himself off.

"Anyway, where were we…"

"Could you please not treat this as a joke? I understand that it is your way of dealing with things, but I find it hurtful." He said quietly, staring at his sneakers.

"Sorry. I'm not used to this… when I get nervous I joke. How come you're keeping your cool?"

"I accepted a long time ago it wasn't meant to be. I just ignored it. It works most of the times. It still burns a little but I learned to live with it." He shrugged.

"How can you say that? You're talking like it is as simple as putting up with a splinter."

"Make that a splinter of incandescent iron and you got it." He said dryly.

"How can you be so emotionless over this?" he marveled.

"Simple. I already used up all the emotion I could in this. Now I am more or less numb. It is fine, really. You get used to it. Sometimes the feelings come bubbling back up, but it's like having the flu, you wait it out." He said in a flat tone.

"I'm trying to tell you that I actually like you back. I want to see where this goes." He said gently, remembering Annabeth's words _he might have a coping mechanism you may not like_.

"No, you don't. You are feeling a mix of guilt and curiosity. You'll get over it in a couple of months and…" he stopped.

"And…?" he prompted.

Nico lifted his gaze from his shoes, and Percy could see they were brimming with tears "and you will leave me. I'll be alone, again." He hiccuped softly, then immediately bit his lip, trying to keep the miserable noises in. Tears slid down his face, and he wiped them away hastily. The son of Poseidon couldn't stand seeing him like that anymore, so he enveloped him in a hug.

"No…" Nico protested weakly "please don't. It will hurt worse when you're gone."

"I'm not leaving" he whispered into his hair.

"Yes, you are." He insisted, voice still shaky.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked quietly, steering them towards the bed, then settling down on the soft blankets.

"Because someone like _you_ can't want someone like _me_." He said sadly.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because no one wants me" he said in a small voice, sounding like a lost child "No one ever did. No one ever will. I've accepted that, why are you throwing salt on my wounds?"

"I want you." He said softly "I really like you, Nico. I don't love you just yet, but we can get there. I can't promise you I won't leave, I can't promise you we'll never fight, I can't promise you we'll never hurt each other. I can't and I won't. I am done making promises I can't keep." He stroked his hair softly "I will promise you one thing, though: that this is not a lie, idle curiosity or anything fickle. I thought this through, believe me, and I want this. I want to see you smile, to make you laugh."

The son of Hades looked up at him, his expression disbelieving, but his eyes hopeful. He gave him a shaky smile and said:

"I can live with that."

They weren't sure who closed the gap between them, and they didn't care. They kissed slowly, sweetly, not rushing anything at all. They tightened their embrace, bringing the other as close as possible, getting lost on the new sensation.

They were so distracted they didn't hear the front door opening, nor did they register footsteps coming their way.

"Oh. That explains why you didn't answer the door" came a voice from the doorway.

They parted hastily, but their arms were still around each other.

"Grace! How did you get in?" Nico asked, a blush creeping up his neck making him adorably pink.

"I have a key…?" he said slowly, like he was explaining something for someone particularly stupid. Then he smiled devilishly and said "Has Percy managed to kiss you dumb?"

That made the son of Hades blush even harder and attempt to hide himself on Percy's chest. The green-eyed boy chuckled, amused, though his cheeks were tinted pink as well.

"Jason, don't antagonize him" he chided, then asked "What are you even doing here?"

"Oh, his birthday was yesterday and we were going to celebrate it today. I know you know about it, Hazel told you."

"Oh, right. Sorry, I got distracted" he said happily.

"Yeah. I know just what distracted you." Jason smiled.

Nico made a small sound of embarrassment from his hiding place.

"In any case, grab a shower, you two, people will get here soon." He turned to leave but added over his shoulder "And by that I meant for each of you to take a shower, not for both of you to jump in the same stall, got it?" he laughed at the inarticulate meeps of embarrassment coming from the two boys, then left.

* * *

><p>Well, it seemed that Nico's definition of a party was quite different than the norm. Other than themselves and the pesky son of Jupiter, the only others who were invited were Reyna, Hazel, Piper and Frank. The last two were more for the benefit of their partners than the birthday boy. Percy thought it was weird, but Nico seemed comfortable among these people, so he didn't point that out.<p>

Hazel grabbed a few trays from the large basket she'd brought and popped them in the oven, setting the timer dutifully.

"I made everything from scratch, I hope you like it!" she said, smiling sweetly.

Nico kissed her forehead and assured her it would be delicious.

They had an impromptu game night while they waited for the food to be ready, munching on chips ("Don't spoil your appetite!" The daughter of Pluto warned, only half joking. She had worked really hard preparing everything, they'd _better_ eat!) Nico was kicking everybody's butt on Monopoly (It had been around since the 30's like him), until everybody became antsy and they decided to call it quits before a real fight broke out.

They switched to Uno instead, were Reyna took the lead. More friendships were threatened because of the "Draw four's" ("You'll pay for that, Zhang!" Percy promised with an uncharacteristic snarl) and then they stopped for dinner.

Hazel had made very tasty lasagnas, with several different combinations of ingredients. There was even a vegetarian one for Piper. When they were all full and sure they couldn't eat another bite she produced a cake from her basket and they proceeded to sing happy birthday to the son of Hades, who blushed and wondered what the heck was he supposed to do. Clap along a retarded seal? Remain still? Human interactions confused him.

After all the food was eaten and all the plates loaded into the dishwasher, they prepared to watch a movie. They had put several pillows and blankets on the floor so everybody could be comfortable. It would also double as their sleeping arrangement, given that no one was leaving the house so late, it was too dangerous.

The group of demigods changed into more comfortable clothing, digging through their overnight bags for their pajamas. After a queue to brush their teeth and a few scuffles to decide who would sleep where, they settled down on their assigned places and began to watch the movie.

He hadn't even noticed he was doing it, but Nico snuggled up to Percy almost immediately. The son of Poseidon hadn't seemed to mind at all, pulling him closer and kissing his temple discreetly.

Not discreetly enough, since Jason gave him a thumbs up while Hazel and Reyna caught his eye and raised their eyebrows in a silent question. He answered with a nod, and the girls smiled widely at him. Then they turned to Percy and gave him matching menacing glares. The son of Poseidon gulped and nodded in understanding. Satisfied, the girls went back to watching the movie, quite innocently he may add.

As the credits rolled Nico and Percy got up and headed for the bedroom. Hazel and Frank would take the couch (bulldog Frank was small enough so that they'd both fit comfortably) while Jason and Piper would take the guest room. Reyna made a nest for herself on the floor and looked quite content with that. They all exchanged a sleepy good night and shuffled to bed.

The son of Hades peeled back the covers, and crawled into bed. Percy followed, and without either of them saying anything, they held each other very much like they had the night before. Nico sighed deeply, comfortable in his arms, and the son of Poseidon felt…whole. It was a cheesy thing to even think, but it was true. He leaned down and kissed the younger boy, who eagerly kissed him back. It was still innocent, it was still new, but he couldn't get enough of it. They parted and Percy kissed his forehead, tucking him under his chin, before asking:

"Did you have a good birthday?"

"The best" was the sleepy answer "I don't know how next year's is going to top that."

"Oh, I have a few ideas" Percy said, smiling evilly.

"Gods, you're a perv!" Nico chuckled, amused.

"Nope, I didn't say anything. Your mind is the one in the gutter." He teased.

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up and go to sleep, tomorrow you're making everybody pancakes."

"Oooh, bossy" he mocked.

"Damn right. Now seriously, let's sleep, I'm really tired" he yawned.

"Poor thing" Percy said with mock pity, but stayed quiet anyways.

He pulled the younger boy even closer, tangling their legs and tightening their embrace. They fell asleep like that, soft smiles tugging at their lips.

* * *

><p><strong>Hello!<strong>

**I hope you liked it! Once again, English is not my native language, so if anything doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll fix it!**

**If you feel like leaving a review, that'd be awesome. If not, move along and have a great day anyway. Cheers!**


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